Biglaw

Top International Biglaw Firm Increases Office Attendance Mandate

Lawyers are reportedly unhappy about the changes being made.

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lawyer work from homeOne by one, Biglaw firms are revising their pandemic-era remote work policies to reflect the changing times — and it seems that lawyers are still quite upset about having to spend more time at the office.

Gowling WLG — a top international firm that brought in $656,653,000 gross revenue in 2022, putting it at No. 89 on the 2023 Global 200 — recently informed its attorneys that come May, they’d have to spend 60% of their time working from the office. This is a 10% increase from the firm’s current 50/50 split under its Agile+ hybrid work policy. According to RollOnFriday, people aren’t happy about the change.

It now appears that Agile+ is becoming more Agile-, as lawyers have got in touch with RollOnFriday voicing their disapproval of having to spend more time in the office. One lawyer said many of their colleagues were “not happy…especially as there was no consultation or survey about it this time,” adding, “we don’t feel like our opinions are valued as the firm did not engage with us.”

Andy Stylianou, the firm’s chair, offered a statement on the updated policy, saying, “We know from our experience over the last year or so that more regular time in the office supports collaboration, helps our people build their skills and experience by working side-by-side with colleagues and ensures that our culture continues to thrive.” He further noted that the increase in time spent at the office is “a small but important change that will benefit both the business and our people as they build their skills and careers.”

Per a firm spokesperson, only lawyers and related legal teams will have to abide by the increase in time spent working from the office. All other teams will remain on the 50/50 hybrid schedule.

Stylianou added that the firm’s policies may be subject to additional change, saying, “We always keep our agile approach under review to ensure we are delivering the very best for our clients and fostering a strong team culture, alongside flexibility for our people.”

How is your firm mandating (or not) in-office attendance? As soon as you find out about office attendance plans at your firm, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Office Reopening”) or text us at (646) 820-8477. We always keep our sources on stories anonymous. There’s no need to send a memo (if one exists) using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. If a memo has been circulated, please be sure to include it as proof; we like to post complete memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file. Thanks.

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Gowling WLG slashes WFH [RollOnFriday]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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